


So Close, Too Close

by NeuroDynafics



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Surfers, Angst, Dave | Technoblade-centric, Drowning, Hurt No Comfort, Lifeguard Technoblade, M/M, Mentioned GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), No Beta We Die Like Endermen, Surfer AU, Surfer Dream, Surfing, Thank you TL for surfer dream, beach au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:16:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27464803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroDynafics/pseuds/NeuroDynafics
Summary: When a night surf changed his whole life. Techno wishes he could change fate and stop him before it happened.Inspired by Surfer Dream that's been appearing on my timeline, also thank you discord for the angst idea.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Dave | Technoblade, Clay | Dream/Dave | Technoblade
Comments: 27
Kudos: 224





	So Close, Too Close

_How did it end up like this?_

They had been enjoying their usual day on the beach. Dream practicing his new surfing stunts with his friends and Techno doing his usual job as a lifeguard. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual unsupervised kids to tell off and some flirting from strangers that his boyfriend had to chase off. They went to that good cafe that they always go to by the beach for his lunch break and to get away from the sun a bit. It was a nice day. 

Was. 

That day Dream managed to convince him to go surfing after dark. Said something about bigger waves after an associate told him how much fun it was to surf at night. Techno worries, it was dangerous but dream persistent pestering made him give in just for him to stop asking. He wished he was more stubborn and resistant.   
  


They arrived at their beach on Techno's motorbike, might as well be theirs seeing how they're there almost every day, the sun was long gone and the moon was up in the clear sky with a light sprinkle of stars above them.   
  


It was a beautiful night. 

He would've enjoyed it longer if it weren't for his eager boyfriend pulling his hand to the shore. Stripping off their access clothing and changing into surfing wetsuits. Their boards propped up on the sand, they had left it there as they usually do, knowing they'll use it tomorrow anyway. 

Stepping in the water, he feels chills across his body. It's colder than he usually deals with. He watches as the ocean licks his feet, slowly sinking into the sand as he hears the waves crash in front of him. A call snapped him from the hypnotic trance he was in, Dream was knees deep and waving his hand at him. He seems like he’s adjusted to the cold, Techno takes note of that and steps in deeper. He forces himself not to shiver at the cold, slowly getting used to the new temperature. 

At some point, Dream makes his way over to him and the water submerging their hips. They had fully submerged their heads earlier to let their whole body adjust. The tides tug at them, having to slightly struggle against the ocean's will to pull them in. Together they walked back to the shore to grab their boards and do what they came here to do. 

Paddling to the rising wave, they stood. Tide catching their boards and they began to surf, it was thrilling. The loud yet soothing noise of the water crashing, the chill air nipping at their skin, the wind catching their face, and the quietness from the night is all they that techno felt before coming to impact with the water below him. 

Rising to the surface, he sees his boyfriend also holding onto his board and a huge smile on his face. The moonlight highlighting his silhouette, wet hair framing his face, face tinted red from the cold, he looks angelic. Techno must've returned the smile because Dream's smile grew and he got up to do it again. 

Following his lead, Techno does the same. And they did it over and over for who knows how long. Truly a joy that both of them share. At some point he went back to shore to rest, he doesn't have as much stamina as Dream with surfing, his job prevents him from practicing for the most part. He tells Dream that he's done and Dream should too. He sees his boyfriend nod and tells him that he'll finish up after a few more rounds. Techno accepts the answer and waves him off before paddling back to the shore. 

Now that he sits here alone on the sand, he only has his thoughts to accompany him. He hears the loud crashing of the waves, the smell of salt in the air, and wind against him. He looks up, the sky is beautiful. He can finally appreciate the little stars scattered and the full moon glinting– 

_Wait...full moon?_

Eyes widening, he scrambles to stand up and stare at the moon, not believing what he saw. It is a full moon, a time where tides are at its peak. Now that he mentions it, the waves were getting higher as they went on and the water pull was tougher than before. Rushing to the shore, he calls out to his boyfriend. 

"DREAM!! DREAM WHERE ARE YOU?!? COME BACK!!" 

Red eyes scan the waves for a silhouette of the blonde. Nothing. His anxiety spikes and he calls him out again.   
  


"DREAM PLEASE ANSWER ME!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" 

He pauses, hoping to hear anything other than the ever-increasing sound of the ocean crashing before him, mocking him. He runs to his lifeguard hut, rapidly unlocking the door and entering. He grabs a waterproof head flashlight and a medic bag just in case before rushing back out, not bothering to lock up again. As he adjusted his light, he could hear it. It's faint but it's there. A soft scream behind the sound of the waves. It's Dream and he needs help. 

Flicking the light on, he grabs his board and swims to where the sound is coming from. Still calling out the Dream, urging him to keep yelling, to keep calling, to stay with him. He hears it, the voice getting louder. He's getting closer, he knows he is.  
  


He follows it, he paddles with every bit of strength he has to towards it. Until suddenly he can't hear it anymore. 

_Why can't he hear Dream anymore?_

He doesn't like the pit in his stomach. 

Heart racing, he swims faster to where he was going. He stops to yell, plead, beg for Dream to respond to him but he’s only met with silence and the ocean. He's had enough, ditching the board he swims below for the faint hope of finding him. He can barely see with the light, the waves not helping his movements. Climbing back up for air, he calls out again. Nothing. Adrenaline and fear courses through Techno.   
  


He tries again, swimming in a different direction, taking note of the way the water flows in his desperate search. He tries again and again and again. He swims further below until his light catches sight of a patch of hair under the water. Hurrying to the spot, he sees Dream, and his lifeguard training kicks in. Grabbing under his arms, he starts swimming up. Gasping for air, he pulls both his and Dream's head above the ocean surface. He starts swimming backward, keeping his boyfriend above him, feet kicking against the strong current. 

Somehow his board manages to find him and he moves Dream on it before pushing to the shore. It's a hard journey back with the tides getting higher and strong as the night prolongs. Finally, he sees land, with every single bit of strength left in his legs, he kicks. They reach the sandy shore and Techno carries Dream to a safe patch of land where their previous stuff is. Dream's skin feels cold, he tries to find a pulse and finds nothing. Grabbing his phone, he dials 911. Not bothering to see if it was answered after not seeing the rise and fall of his chest, he starts CPR. 

_1... 2... 3..._

He counts silently in his head to fifteen as he hears an operator answer his calling. He scrambles to answer the best he can, trying to maintain a professional voice but he knows he's failing and he can hear his voice crack. He tells them he's a trained lifeguard and has started CPR, still pumping Dream's chest. He relays their location and begged them to arrive as soon as possible before stopping to blow air into his mouth twice. 

Suddenly he has a flashback to when they first met.

_It was a sunny day in California, Techno is in his second week being the local lifeguard after his initial training. He needed to get a job and being in California with their many beaches, he chose to be a lifeguard._

_So far his days have been uneventful. He had to remind parents to keep their children supervised, stopping people from swimming out too far, and directing strangers to certain locations. He's gotten a couple of looks and stares from people that cross by but it doesn't bother him too much. If he pulled on his shirt cover a bit then who's to say he did._

_It was until he caught a patch of dirty blonde holding a surfboard with green stripes and a smiley face staring at him with an awed look on his face. The guy was pretty cute; dirty blonde hair, green eyes, freckled arms and shoulder, and pretty fit too, definitely his type. He didn't realize he had started smirking until he locked eyes with the mysterious stranger and immediately turned away, Techno thinks he might have a blush growing on his face._

_He doesn't remember ever seeing him around before, then again he barely remembers anything though he's sure he would've remembered such a handsome face. Finding where he retreated to, he spots the man shoving his laughing friends to the sand as they walk to the surfing competition area. Ah, that explains it. He must've flown in for the competition. Maybe Techno might get a watch during his lunch break. He surfs himself, even entering and winning some competition here and there, but he has a job to do now._

_Speaking of which, he has to do said job now so he returns his gaze to survey the crowd of people on the beach. Other than the competition, it is just like any other day. But if his gaze lands back on a certain blonde once in a while, no one needs to know._

_Finally, it’s his lunch break. Getting an okay from his boss, he enters this cafe that just opened by the beach. Being out from the scorching summer sun and feeling the cool air from the AC, he releases a sigh. Why did he pick this job again? He's very much an introvert, talking to people tires him yet his job depends on him to leap into action for strangers. Buying his usual sandwich, he drops some change into the tip jar before seeing a huge crowd forming where the competition is being held. Curiosity got the better of him and he started walking towards it, his lifeguard bag still with him. He was going to go there anyway._

_Being a lifeguard has its perks though. For one, people part away from him when he needs to get through a crowd. He easily got a front-row view now and he saw him. The blonde surfer he saw earlier and he's just cruising the wave as if he owns it. The amount of risky stunts he's doing and how he's holding his own against the high wall is incredible. Techno could only imagine how long it took to perfect them._ _He focuses on the surfer himself now. His hair is waving wildly in the wind, his stance is strong and stable, his eyes screams thrill and excitement, his grin determined and confident. His whole appearance proudly says 'Look at me, look at how well I'm doing and how much I'm having'._

_He's mesmerizing._

_For a moment there, the blonde scanned the crowd after landing yet another stunt. Techno sees him grin at his friends from earlier and they locked eyes once more. He saw how his whole body froze in place on the board as a flush of red climbed up his neck and to his face. Then he fell into the water._

_The crowd cheered loudly as ever, he almost covered his ears. After that amazing performance, they don't expect him to keep being perfect and clapped for him. Waiting for him to rise to the surface and claim his crown._

_But he doesn't._

_Techno immediately noticed this as the crowd went silent with worry, it’s been a whole minute and their star still hasn't risen above the water. Not wanting to waste time any longer, Techno dashes to the shore. Dropping his bag, he grabs a nearby board and starts paddling towards where the blonde had fallen. He then ditches the board to swim below, searching for the man. After some adjustment to the water stinging his eyes, he sees him. Grabbing the blonde, he pulls him up to the surface and carries him to the board._

_Techno sees his leg twitching, he must've had a cramp in the water and couldn't swim back up. He pushes past the waves and yells for the people to give him space. He carried the man to shore and people backed away from him. Checking his breathing and pulse, Techno concluded that he needed CPR. He was just about to start before he heard yelling._

_"DREAM!!!"_

_It's the blonde's friends from earlier rushing to his side. Techno assumes that 'Dream' is his name and asks the two friends to back away so he can work, they both comply without a word of protest, worried for their friend. Techno lets the training course through him and starts the compressions._

_1... 2... 3..._

_Counting to fifteen twice before going in to blow air into his mouth. Suddenly the blonde jerks up and roll to his side to let out all the seawater in his system. Techno sighs in relief as he hears clapping from the crowd around them. The two friends rush to the blonde as Techno steps away to give them space to hug their friend._

_They both turned to him, thanking him and staying how grateful they were. He responds that he was just doing his job. Dream stopped his coughing after being given some water to drink and just stared at him. Instead of standing like an idiot, Techno opted to see how he’s doing._

_"Hey, you feeling okay now?"_

_"Y-yeah...thank you for, well, saving my life basically."_

_"Just doin' my job. Dream was it?"_

_"That's my name, certainly feels like I'm in one after seeing you."_

_Techno laughs at that, not at all expecting to get flirted on by the guy he just saved. Dream seems to just realize what he just said the blush from earlier returned. Techno sees his two friends holding back their laughs as they want their friend combust with embarrassment._

_"Oh my god I am so sorry, it's just that when I'm nervous I tend to ramble and just spew crap out of my mouth, and for some reason my default is to flirt when it's with someone I like okay I am gonna shut up now-"_

_Chuckling at his explanation, the pinkette reassures him, “Dude, it's okay. Nice one by the way, never heard that one before. Also do you not breathe when you said all that?"_

_"Well when you kissed me you kinda took my breath away- dammit there I go again ugh just end me already..."_

_Dream groaned into his hands as his face flushed from embarrassment. His friends and Techno are fully laughing right now. Not trying to hide it anymore to spare him. What great friends, Techno approves. Unbeknownst to them, Dream was staring in awe at the sound of his laughter. After calming down, Techno grabs a piece of paper and pen from his bag, writing his number, and giving it to him._

_The blonde just stares at it in wonder like it’s some sacred item he has to keep safe. Techno stands up and offers a hand to Dream with a smile. Smiling back, he grabs it and Techno lifts him to his feet._

_"The name's Techno. Guess I'll see you around Dream. Congratulations on the win."_

_Techno walks away from the trio, hearing cheers from behind him. It's a good day._

Snapping out of his memories, Techno keeps pumping Dream's chest. He doesn't remember when his eyes started to get blurry and tears fell to the man under him. He doesn't remember when the paramedics got there before removing him from Dream to continue the pumps themselves. He doesn't remember being given a thermal blanket and barely registers when someone said that he has minor hypothermia. 

Everything is a blur. At some point, he's in an ambulance, and the next thing he has Sapnap and George rushing to him as he sits on a bed in the ER. Sapnap hugged him while George rubbed circles on his back. He's numb, he's cold, he wants Dream, he _needs_ Dream.

A doctor walks towards them with a solemn look on his face. Techno knows that look and his heart _shatters._

**_He screams._ **

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever post on AO3. Hope you guys enjoyed it! If this gets enough attraction, I might make an actual series or snippets of events in the canon timeline for this AU. Yes, this isn't the actual ending if I ever do make it. Or is it? :)
> 
> Thank you again to Rat from the Dreamnoblade discord for the angst idea prompt when I suggested this AU
> 
> Edit : oh my god someone had the same idea about technoguard and someone else mentioned this fic im dead 💀


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